Waterway restoration sees return of endangered mudfish
A critically threatened endemic freshwater fish found only in Canterbury has been discovered at a Craigmore Sustainables farm near Timaru.
Craigmore Sustainables says it is committed to investing in professional and career development for its farm managers and employees.
Working with people such as Chris Parsens, Ellen Ford and Jon Lasenby the company runs a high-performance teams programme, which general manager farming, Stuart Taylor says delivers transformational results for the company's leaders. Long term, Craigmore hopes to transfer the process over to primary industries.
"We challenge our leaders to be self-aware and lead our people for a positive future for our business and their personal lives. People are one of the most important parts of a farming business and we're committed to developing farm teams that succeed and love what they do."
When setting a farm system, Taylor says he looks at thte farmer's natural style and the farm's characteristics, including geography, climate and assets. The farm system is modelled to create success for the farmer and success for the farm.
"Every farmer is different. To attract the best people we have created flexibility around how we run our farms and how we employ people. We talk about what they want out of life, their career aspirations and risk profile, and remunerate people with situations that create win/win outcomes for the people and the business."
Employment options include managers and contract milkers with or without equity, 50/50 sharemilkers and, in one case, a joint venture lease.
"We want to attract the best people and remunerate them in a way that helps them meet their career and life goals," Taylor says.
"Also, we introduce innovation onto farm by looking for 'passion-projects' - once a farmer is succeeding on the farm (great teams, cows, farm presentation and financials), we work closely with them to introduce an innovation-based around their passion. An innovation might enhance animal welfare and performance, the environment, people or farm system performance."
Craigmore was founded in 2009 by New Zealanders Forbes Elworthy and Mark Cox, who believed the dairy sector was highly innovative but needed capital to invest in the trial and testing of technology to fast-track change in the sector.
"We have a strong focus on delivering a positive future for New Zealand's primary sector and our rural communities," Taylor says.
This International Women's Day, there are calls to address a reported gender disparity gap between men women New Zealand's horticulture industry leadership.
WorkSafe New Zealand is calling on farmers to consider how vehicles move inside their barns and sheds, following a sentencing for a death at one of South Canterbury’s biggest agribusinesses.
Now is not the time to stop incorporating plantain into dairy pasture systems to reduce nitrogen (N) loss, says Agricom Australasia brand manager Mark Brown.
Building on the success of last year's events, the opportunity to attend People Expos is back for 2025, offering farmers the chance to be inspired and gain more tips and insights for their toolkits to support their people on farm.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients fertiliser SustaiN – which contains a urease inhibitor that reduces the amount of ammonia released to the air – has now been registered by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). It is the first fertiliser in New Zealand to achieve this status.
Precision application of nitrogen can improve yields, but the costs of testing currently outweigh improved returns, according to new research from Plant and Food Research, MPI and Ravensdown.
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